


River's Final Mistake

by Zyrianna



Category: Armello (Video Game), Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:42:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24706276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zyrianna/pseuds/Zyrianna
Summary: A wolf ranger makes a critical error of judgement, and strange things happen afterwards.This will be inspired by events from a fresh, heavily modded Skyrim playthrough. It may or may not be finished, as I don't have any end point in mind. Expect fucked up things, and read on at your own risk :0
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	River's Final Mistake

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing anything episodic or w/e, so expect inconsistency. Also shoutout to slitheringDeath for her story, and inspiring me with confidence to actually publish this!  
> go read it too please: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22304974/chapters/53274889

Moonlight gleamed on the still water of Thumperfoot lake, bathing the surroundings in a beautiful silver glow. There was barely a sound to be heard, besides the low croaking of frogs and the occasional shriek of an owl. The glade was beautifully undisturbed, and as picturesque as the finest tapestries in the land.

This was a terrible night for an ambush, River thought once again, and cursed in her head. The Wolf Clan ranger was dressed in the traditional gear afforded to only the most elite wolves of her occupation - a loosened leather chestpiece, thick fur cape, and a short skirt that wouldn't make a sound as she carefully stepped through the thickets at the edge of the clearing. The pale blue war paint of her tribe fell in three diagonal stripes on either side of her face, and more ran the length of her slender yet curvaceous body, visible on her uncovered midriff and running in loops around her arms, disappearing under her bracers. A twist of feathers was tied into the fur behind one of her ears, keeping the archer aware of any changes in the wind. 

She had already been here once, at midday, to scout out the area and plan her attack. If the intelligence from her spy network was right, her target would be passing through here on his way to meet with another Hero deeper into the forest. She had had just enough time to get here and prepare herself, not wanting to get any closer to the unknown third party. Dealing with this mark would be dangerous enough.

She wondered to herself in that moment whether it was worth it. Many great men and women from every clan all had their eyes on the seat of power, but River was just doing her duty. The clan elders had implored her to help secure a safe future by taking the throne before somebody with fewer wits about them could, but her heart truly wasn't in it. But this particular mission meant more than just advancing toward the golden throne. Her quarry was incredibly dangerous. Every member of her clan knew of Fang, the bloodstained outcast, and his indefensible use of the Rot. The fearsome wolf was a powerhouse fueled by rage and corruption, and he had been terrorising many settlements across the land. She would put a stop to him, before he had the chance to challenge the king and take his throne. That much was for sure. 

She became aware of his presence before she could even smell him. Those whose veins course with the Rot emanated an aura of pure evil, and to have been as thoroughly corrupted as Fang only heightened the malice. River felt dread creeping through her bones as she first heard, then watched the hulking figure smashing through the trees opposite her. A single beady, glowing purple eye burned fiery above towering shoulders and a snarling, drool-spattered maw. He was big. Much, much bigger than she'd thought. As she watched the brute crush his way through the foliage, she took a deep breath to steady herself, and readied her arrow. Once again, she cursed the bright moonlight as it glinted off the pointed tip as she aimed it squarely at Fang's heart. He was drawing to a halt, having finally broken through the trees and into the clearing proper. As he stopped and began to chug from a wineskin she saw her chance, and seized it. With the softest of whistles she loosed an arrow from her bow, and before it had even met its target she had dropped the weapon, drawn her dagger, and rolled forwards across the glade toward him.

Fang roared as the arrow thudded into his chest, a terrifying sound that shook the leaves from the trees and sent roosting birds skyward in a flurry of fright and feathers. Seething rage bubbled and frothed from his lips as his drink crashed to the ground and he swung madly at his assailant. River ducked beneath his flailing grasp before flipping her dagger and driving it skyward, up into the brute's chest. 

It came as a great surprise to her when she didn't feel it connect. All the momentum of her vertical strike died as a fist that was nearly the size of her head crushed her wrist and held it still. She felt Fang's searing breath against her face as he lifted her up with one hand, twisting around as she left the ground behind. This was not good. She needed to think fast. As that vicelike grip continued to crush her wrist despite the bracer, she felt her fingers start to go numb. Fang's hideous, scarred visage was filling her vision, his rumbling growl deafening to her. But as her hand gave out and she felt the dagger tumbling from her fingers, hope took hold in her heart once more. Without looking away from the monstrous axeman before her, she nimbly caught the dagger with her other hand, flipped it in her fingers and lunged again. This time, she felt it pierce skin, part flesh and lodge between bone, and gave it a twist just to be sure before releasing her hold on the handle. Fang roared again, shattering her ears and spraying sticky spittle as he howled in rage and pain. But for some reason, he didn't let go. River looked down in dread, and saw why. The knife hadn't lodged between his ribs. The crooked blade was embedded directly in Fang's palm, all the way to the hilt. Thick, blackish-purple blood coated the tip and pooled out over the back of his hand. It stank, of death and corruption and filth, and it turned River's stomach. The wound didn't even seem to bother her quarry at all, and she stared fearfully at him as he finally spoke, paralysing her with terror.

"Your final mistake," spat the huge wolf with a growl, before he took a bite out of her. River screamed, something she hadn't done since she was a pup, as sharp, jagged teeth pierced the flesh of her shoulder like it was nothing. Each incision burned, the Rot-tainted saliva salting every inch of wound it touched. Fang dug deep as his maw sank around her joint, jaws crushing together with the weight and force of a mighty avalanche. The wolf bitch's cries didn't draw an ounce of pity as the hideous brute drew his head back, tearing at her shoulder like an untamed beast. Ligaments stretched and snapped, and with a grotesque crunch, River's free arm slowly tore away from her body, leaving only a stump behind. She flailed and cried out, arterial blood spraying hot and wet onto the grass beneath her as Fang's teeth went to work. She stared, transfixed with horror, as he cracked and crunched the bones of her arm, her own blood smearing over his hungry jaws. After a few more chomps, he spat the distorted, broken remains onto the ground and turned his attention to River's dagger. The poor girl dangled in the air, helplessly watching as her enemy took the handle in his teeth and yanked the now-blackened knife out of his palm without so much more than a grunt. His Rot-fueled, coagulating blood thoroughly coated the blade, and he examined it with uncharacteristically nonchalant disinterest. 

"I suppose you would like this back, hm?" growled Fang. 

River hadn't the strength to reply. Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed and whimpered with agony, unable to face her captor and yet too horrified to look away. She was already feeling dizzy from the blood loss, the warm wetness running down her side and staining her white fur a deep scarlet. How could he be this strong? How could she have misjudged his power so badly? The Rot coursing through his body was turning him into an indestructible monster, and her arrows could not have hoped to make an impact. 

What did make an impact, however, was her own dagger as Fang plunged it into her bare belly. Ranger armour was not built for prolonged close-quarters combat, and her soft, pale midriff was completely defenceless against the jagged edge as it thrust into her vital organs. She gasped in shock as she felt all five inches of the blade steep themselves within her torso. Fang chuckled sadistically and began to work his way sideways across her stomach with heinous glee. More of River's blood seeped into her snowy fur, and she felt the cold night air breezing somewhere it should never normally reach. She began to cry and whimper again, and now she had realised her fate. Not only had she failed, failed like she had never failed before, but she wasn't going to be able to recover from this one. It truly had been her final mistake to challenge this hulking brute. She felt the knife retreat from within her confines, but before another thought could cross her mind something else plunged deep inside. Was it- it was! Fang's gargantuan fist grabbed a slack handful of River's intestines, and tugged. Hard. 

Unimaginable agony rocked the lupine ranger, pain that had seemed unimaginable even moments before. Through tear-stained eyes she watched as several feet of glistening, pink entrails were drawn out, out of her own belly, wrapped around that stony grey fist. Fang chomped and wolfed down those guts noisily, yet more of River's lifeblood messily splattering all over him. His signature teeth ripped and tore through her meat, and he eagerly gorged on her without a care in the world. River's guts stretched as he went on, eventually snapping with a hideous squelch. As he gulped down a final mouthful, he finally released her wrist, letting the hapless girl drop to the ground.

River was numb at this point. Her whole existence was agony. Time seemed to have frozen, and she could feel the lack of blood getting to her. Darkness ate away at the corners of her vision, and when she hit the floor she barely even felt the wind being knocked out of her lungs. She just lay on her side, listening to Fang slavering and feasting, knowing that her time would soon be up. This was it, she thought. I've failed you all.

_I'm sorry, Ancestors. I'm joining you sooner than I should._

She heard Fang stomping around above her, and his terrible growl rang out.

_I'm sorry, Elders. I really wasn't good enough to protect the Clan._

"You should apologise to me, morsel. For pricking me with that stupid arrow of yours."

"I-I'm sorry, Fang…" whispered River in a low croak. She closed her eyes for the last time. 

Fang grinned, and let the blade of his handaxe drop. It missed her neck by several inches, instead burying itself deep in River's skull. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth opened in a final, silent scream. Then Fang twisted his axe and, with a wet, squishy splinter, broke the limp ranger's head apart. And that is how River, the Howling Arrow of the Wolf Clan, met her end.

* * *

  
  
  
  
  


Cold. 

The first thing River knew was cold. Her head was in agony, filled with an intense ringing. There was a numbness consuming her entire body. It reminded her of the time she fell through a frozen lake as a cub. She tried to open her eyes, to move a limb, but nothing was working. She tried, desperately, to utter even a single word, but could only muster a mumble.

“Hush…” whispered a voice, startlingly close to her ear. River couldn’t bring herself to say anything else. She became aware of a steady motion, as if she were being gently rocked on a giant’s lap. It was quite soothing, she thought. The pull of unconsciousness began to drag on her once again, as her mind floated freely. _Was this death?_ she wondered for a while, until she realised that she no longer cared, and drifted back into oblivious sleep.  
  
  
Warm.

The next thing River felt was gracious warmth. She was no longer being rocked, and she could actually feel her body attached to her spirit again. She lay still for a while, uncertain of how much time was passing, before eventually daring to crack her eyes open. Orange light blinded her for a moment, and she strained her vision to make sense of the dazzling wheels of colour that met her gaze. Without putting much thought into it at all, she attempted to straighten up and get a better look at her surroundings. A dark blob detached itself from the edge of the glow and approached her at speed. Something gripped her shoulder, and gently eased her back down.

“Ohnoahyoudoa” insisted the blob.

“Whuuhh?” River groaned in response, blinking madly as her eyes began to adjust to the light.

“You stay put. Whatever you are, you’re lucky to be alive.”

The blob had begun to take shape, although it didn’t seem much more comprehensible to River. Though it stood tall like an Armellian, its fur was pink - No! Its skin was bare? She couldn’t see any ears, and its face was round and flat, unlike any wolf’s. What was this creature? There was a sizzling sound from behind it, and it rushed away. River took a moment to take in her surroundings. Animal skins hung from battered wooden walls, a wooden ceiling full of holes, and what might have either been a boarded up window or an amateur repair job. Leaning forward just a little, River could see that the next room along boasted a table with a single bench, and a large pot bubbling over a stone hearth. The strange creature dipped a bow into the pot, and approached the bed once more, setting the bowl on a table beside the wolfgirl’s head.

“Here, you should eat this. I’ve no idea how long you were out there but you’re lucky I found you. A few hours more out there and you’d’ve been a goner, even with that fur...” The figure’s voice was a little shrill, but earnest, and River felt incredibly blessed to have been found by somebody this noble. Those same coarse fingers that had stopped her from rising before now dug behind her shoulders and lifted, gently easing her into a sitting position. “What are you, anyway? Some sort of Khajiit?”

“Ka...Jeet?”

“Maybe questions can wait,” the stranger muttered to herself, passing the bowl to River. Warm steam rose up from the contents, filling her nostrils with the appetising scent of food. “Venison stew! With the same deer I had caught when I found you!” There was a note of pride in her voice as River tentatively touched her tongue to the contents. They were hot and every bit as delicious as their scent had promised. Without noticing, she soon found herself wolfing down the contents, to the delight of her rescuer.

“Well, you seem to be a fan! Wonderful.”

River felt much better, heat and energy pouring through her body, kindling fires under aching bones. It didn’t take her long to finish, and she finally mustered the strength to speak.

“Thank-you… That was great,” she mumbled. The stranger perched at the foot of the bed.

“I suppose I should introduce myself. Name’s Angi. What’s yours?”

“River… Where are we?”

Angi chuckled. “My home! Not much to look at, but it’s mine. Unless you meant more generally..?” River nodded. “We’re in the Jerall mountains of Skyrim. The nearest town is Falkreath. Did you come from there?”

The wolf shook her head. “I have never heard of these places, though my homelands were mountains too…”

“Your homelands? Are you a visitor from a land of wolves?”

River’s heart sank as she thought of her home, and her people. “Not all. Many different shapes… Rats, bears, rabbitfolk…” she trailed off. “And what of this place? Do all people look like you? Are there any like… me?”

“Aye, most of ‘em. Then there the elves… Imagine me, but uglier, with big pointy ears. As far as lookin’ like you… There are the Khajiit, the cat-men. Do they have cats where you’re from?”

“They do... Where can I find these catfolk?”

“Ah… That I couldn’t tell you. I don’t really venture down to the cities any more."

“Oh, d-”

“Don’t ask. Last I heard, the Khajiit were pretty rare, and they travelled often. A lot of them are traders, I think.”

There was silence for a while, River deep in thought, until Angi spoke up again:

“It’s late. We should both get some rest.” She hopped off the bed, reaching beneath it and dragging out a rolled sleeping-sack. River didn’t feel like telling her host that she was nocturnal.

“Angi?”

“Yes, River?”

“Tomorrow, can you show me where you found me?”

“Sure, it isn’t far. Is that all?”

“Goodnight. And thank-you. I owe you my life.”

“Well… I couldn’t just leave you there, could I?”

**Author's Note:**

> Well done for making it through! Please do leave a comment if you enjoyed(?) this thing, I feed on validation


End file.
